BIRCH CLIFF PUBLIC SCHOOL 1650 Kingston Road, Toronto, Ontario M1N 1S2 Telephone: 416-396-6060 | FAX: 416-396-6061

Principal: Ted Vine | Superintendent: Peter Chang | Trustee: Parthi Kandavel

  Newsletter * October 2018

Principal’s Message * Events * Reminders * Clubs * Council Updates   

From the Principal’s Desk 

The 2018-2019 school year is off to a great start! We want to give a warm welcome to all of our new students and of course to our returning ones! My first month at Birch Cliff has been very busy, but very rewarding and I look forward to working with staff and parents alike to make Birch Cliff an even better school! At Birch Cliff, we focus on the FOUR As (Academics, Athletics, Arts, and Attitude). We already have a lot happening around the school including: Cross-Country, K-Club, Jr./Sr. Basketball, Soccer, ME to WE, Bordenball, Monthly Character Trait Assemblies, and many great academic programs that involve cross-curricular and hands-on learning. Birch Cliff is lucky to have so many staff that are willing to volunteer their time to support our students in and out of the classroom! Let’s have a great year at Birch Cliff!  - Mr. Vine   

     

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Dates to Remember ~ Oct. 4: Picture Day ~ Oct. 5: PA Day ~ Oct. 8: Thanksgiving ~ Oct. 9: Gr. 7 Vaccinations ~ Oct. 10: Cross Country @ Thompson Park

2018-2019 TDSB Dates of Significance can be found here.

There will be no classes on Friday October 5 & Monday October 8 for Thanksgiving.

School will resume on Tuesday, October 9.

Visit the TDSB public web site at www.tdsb.on.ca to view the school year calendar or the Birch Cliff Calendar for specific events.

From the Office 

If there are any changes in your home or business phone numbers, please inform us as soon as possible! 

Lates and Absences The Safe Arrival line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If your child will be late or absent from school, call the Safe Arrival number to let us know! 416-396-6062 

Parent Visitors Please check in at the main office! Unannounced visitors often create concern for our students who might think a stranger has entered the building. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe school environment. 

How can school activities be affected by weather?

School activities, including sport practices/games and rehearsals, may also be cancelled due to severe weather. These decisions are typically made on a school-by-school basis; however, in cases where board-wide activities and programs, such as Continuing Education classes, are cancelled, this will be communicated on the TDSB website and social media.

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/AboutUs/SevereWeather.aspx

Twitter Did you know that Birch Cliff is on Twitter? You can follow us @BirchCliff_TDSB

Lost and Found Please check the school’s lost and found in the basement. Many personal belongings are waiting patiently for their owners to take them home!

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Athletics Cross Country The Cross Country season is up and running! The boys and girls in Grades 1-8 have been running for the last 3 weeks. It is so nice to see so many students participating and to-date we have 74 kids registered on the Cross Country team. They had their first invitational meet last Wednesday at Chine Drive, aka: "The Killer Hill Run". We had some great finishes from many of our students, personal best times, and a lot of kids who were just happy to be out running with their teammates. We meet every morning, unless it’s raining, at 8:10 a.m. at the lamp post. Parents - please stay tuned as we will be inviting you to run with your son/daughter very soon on a Friday morning run. More info to follow. Their next meet is October 10th at Thompson Park. We will be providing a bus to take students to and from the park. Keep up the great work, boys and girls! - Miss Secher, Mrs. Calce, Mr. & Mrs. Barlow 

 

Jr. Girls Borden Ball The Junior Girls' Borden Ball team is preparing for its tournament which will take place on Tuesday, October 2nd in the afternoon at Lester B. Pearson C.I. Hopefully the sun will be shining for us that day! - Ms. Adams & Ms. Secher

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School Advisory Council

Welcome back to all of the Birch Cliff families and a very warm welcome to all the new families joining us at Birch Cliff Public School this year. School Council is an excellent way to get involved in your child’s education. All parents are welcome to join the council and attend School Council meetings. We have started our fundraising endeavors for the 2018/2019 school year with the very popular Pizza Lunch and Kernel’s popcorn snack Fridays ordered through the MunchaLunch program or manual forms in office. On Friday October 19th from 3:30-7pm we will be having our annual Pumpkinfest. Please pre-order your farm pumpkins and BBQ dinner through the “Fundraising” tab on MunchaLunch as we want to ensure we save a pumpkin for your family. Thank you this far to everyone supporting the fundraising for our kids through ordering pizza and/or popcorn and thank you in advance for your support for Pumpkinfest. If you are interested in volunteering for any of our events, please e-mail me at Kerry.Cotton@Sympatico.Ca. Our next School Council meeting will be held on Wednesday November 21st from 6:30-8pm in the school staff room. All are welcome. Babysitting is provided in the school gym with Grade 7/8 students. ~ Kerry Cotton (Chair, School Council) 

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Monthly Character Trait - RESPONSIBILITY

Dear Parent, Guardian, or Caregiver: Every month the TDSB staff and students focus their attention on a specific character trait. Your child is involved in learning activities designed to develop good character and help children make good choices. Our focus for October is RESPONSIBILITY.

What does responsibility mean to you?

Your child can show responsibility by:

● taking care of himself or herself and others in the family ● getting up on time, getting ready for school, and having breakfast ● completing homework and keeping his or her school work organized ● helping with household chores without being asked ● keeping promises

Questions to discuss with your child:

● What is responsibility, and what does it mean to be responsible? ● What are some of your specific responsibilities at school, at home, and in the community? ● How can acting irresponsibly affect others?

Projects to do together: ● Assist your child with organizing his or her school notebooks and agenda. ● Plan family activities, and involve your child in the planning process. ● Set clear expectations for your child, and hold him or her accountable for his or her actions (for

example, setting bedtimes, curfews, and wake-up times). ● Teach your child to be financially and environmentally responsible.

Encouraging Responsibility in Your Child:

● Remind your child about being responsible for his or her school work by checking his or her agenda and/or school work every day.

● Remember to be patient as your child learns to become responsible. ● Encourage and praise your child when he or she is responsible. ● Share an example of a situation in which someone you know behaved responsibly.

Thank you for supporting our Character Development program.